Delhi

Delhi City

Delhi, has seen the rise and fall of many empires which have left behind a plethora of monuments that the grandeur and glory of bygone ages . A city which traces its history to Mahabharata, the great epic tale of wars fought between estranged cousins , the Kauravas and the Pandavas for the city of Indraprastha.

Mughals ruled Delhi in succession starting from Qutab-ub-din to Khiljis, Tughlaqs . The city of Delhi passed on to the hands of the British in 1803 AD. It was only in 1911, when the capital of British empire was shifted from Calcutta to Delhi, that Delhi got its present prestige. After independence also, a kind of autonomy was conferred on the capital but it largely remained a chief commissioners regime. In 1956 Delhi was converted into a Union territory and gradually the chief commissioner was replaced by a Lt. Governor. In 1991, the national capital territory Act was passed by the parliament and a system of diarchy was introduced under which, the elected Government was given wide powers; except law and order which remained with the central Government. The actual enforcement of the legislation came in 1993.

New Delhi, the capital of India, sprawled over the west bank of the river Yamuna is one of the fastest growing cities in India. It is surrounded on three sides by Haryana and to the east, across the river Yamuna by Uttar Pradesh. Historically, the city has long since been the foremost in political importance with successive dynasties choosing it as their seat of power, between the 13th and the 17th centuries. Remnants of the glorious past survive as important monuments in different parts of the city.

The myriad faces of the city are simply fascinating. In some places it remains a garden city, tree lined and with beautiful parks, but in some places it can also be crowded with heavy traffic.

Turbaned Sikhs, colourfully dressed Rajasthani and Gujarati women working in offices, Muslim shopkeepers along Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi, Tibetans and Ladakhis in the street stalls along Janpath and Kashmiris in the handicraft emporia around Connaught Place, all add to the cosmopolitan feel of the city.

Soaring skyscrapers, posh residential colonies and bustling commercial complexes can be seen along with the ancient historical monuments.

Its boutiques and shopping arcades offer access to a wealth of traditional and contemporary crafts, from all over the country. Old Delhi which looks entirely different from New Delhi area, is about 6 Km north of the city center.

Mumbai [ Maharashtra ]

Mumbai City

Mumbai is India´s finance centre, the economic powerhouse of the nation, heart of the Hindi film industry and the industrial hub of everything from textiles to petrochemicals.Mumbai is the glamour of Bollywood cinema, cricket on the maidans(open grassed areas), bhelpuri (a spicy sweet Mumbai snack) on the beach of Chowpatty, outstanding colonial architecture and red double-decker buses.

Mumbai was Bombay and this vast port and metropolis grew over three centuries from a collection of seven small, swampy islands into a giant magnet that each year still draws thousands of hopeful migrants seeking their fortune.

The islands, originally inhabited by Koli fishermen, remained as they were for several centuries in the pre-Christian era. It was only in the following centuries, the development of important townships and ports took place on the mainland surrounding the islands.

The place did witness some growth during the rule of several Hindu and Muslim dynasties, but a physical metamorphosis of the islands began only after the Portuguese takeover from the Muslim rulers of Gujarat in 1534.

Bombay and the freedom struggle

The Freedom Struggle received a tremendous impetus with Bombay taking the lead in almost every major political movement. Independence came in 1947, with refugees from Pakistan further adding to the population.

In the latter half of the 20th century, Bombay quickly grew upwards in the form of high rises and outwards too, rapidly expanding into the northern suburbs and the mainland. Today the city's population is estimated at around 14 million.

Chennai [ Tamilnadu ]

Chennai City

Tamil Nadu constitutes the south-eastern extremity of the Indian peninsula. Chennai is the capital city of the State, besides being an important district. The district city is one of the metropolis of India and serves as the gateway of the culture of South India.

In spite of being the capital of a Tamil speaking State, it has emerged as a cosmopolitan city playing an important role in the historical, cultural and intellectual development of India, representing still the distinct components of the highest form of Dravidian civilisation. In addition, it holds out an interesting fare of South Indian architecture, music, dance, drama, sculpture and other arts and crafts.

Chennai is situated on the north-east end of Tamil Nadu on the coast of Bay of Bengal. It lies between 12* 9' and 13* 9' of the northern latitude and 80* 12' and 80* 19' of the southern longitude on a `sandy shelving breaker swept beach'.

It stretches nearly 25.60 kms. along the Bay coast from Thiruvanmiyur in the south to Thiruvottiyur in the north and runs inland in a rugged semi-circular fashion. It is bounded on the east by the Bay of Bengal and on the remaining three sides by Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur Districts.

The city of Chennai came into being due to a strategic necessity and historical accident. It symbolises the rise of British power in South India by setting up and consolidation of the East India Company in the seventeenth century with its headquarters at Fort St. George in Chennai as a trading centre. Within 350 years, a few scattered villages (important being Mylapore, Triplicane and Chennai Patnam) have developed into a modern metropolitan city without shedding its traditional customs, religious outlook and other traditions.

It can be proudly remarked that the greatness of ancient Chennai is mostly religious due to the preservation of the old famous Saivaite and Vaishnavite shrines signifying the antiquity of the place.

The growth of the city is significant and closely linked with the development of British Institutions and administration. In short, Chennai city was the chief centre from which the British rule expanded in the sub-continent and it remains a standing monument of British contribution to India.

Chennai city has acted as an important centre of culture and education in South India and has been the cradle of many movements which have played an important role in the history of the sub-continent.

A large number of institutions which are known in India and abroad are found located in the city, of which mention may be made of the Theosophical Society, the Kalakshetra and colleges of Arts and Crafts. The establishment of professional colleges like Medical, Veterinary, Law and Teaching, the location of the Indian Institute of Technology and the establishment of Central Leather Research Institute have added to the development of the city.

Chennai is one of the leading cities in India today from the point of view of trade and commerce, with the fourth largest port in the country and the first to have developed a full-fledged container terminal to international standards.

The port is providing trade links with Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Burma, Bangladesh, Ceylon and other far eastern countries. Chennai is also one of the most important industrial cities of the sub-continent. As a district of the State it ranks third after Coimbatore and Salem in so far as the number of factories is concerned but stands at the top in case of employment and productive capital and first in revenue.

It, however, ranks second in terms of industrial out-put next to Chengalpattu. Chennai city enjoys an eminent position in the country in film industry and Kodambakkam, known as the Hollywood of Chennai, has a number of studios engaged in the production of Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi movies which are quite popular. Total area of the district is 178.20 sq. kms.

The city of Madras has now been renamed as Chennai. It is stated that the name Chennai traced its origin to "some other language". The rechristening of the city is part of the steps announced for the "growth of Tamil in various fields".

There are different versions about the name of this once sleepy coastal village. When the British landed here in 1639 A.D. it was said to be part of the empire of the Raja of Chandragiri. The British named it Chennapattinam, after they acquired it from Chennappa Nayakar. Gradually, it became Chennai. The first instance of the use of the name Chennai is said to be in the Vestiges of Old Chennai, the sale deed of August 1639 to Francis Day, an agent for the British. There it has been referred to as Chennaipatnam.

The British are said to have built Fort Saint George, the present seat of power, in 1640. It was named after the patron saint of England. The Vestiges of Old Chennai infer that the original village of Madraspatnam lay north of the proximate to Chennapattinam. In course of time and with rapid growth, the two virtually became one. It is also inferred that the English preferred the name Madraspatnam, while Indians chose Chennapattinam.

Kolkata [ West Bengal ]

Kolkata City

Kolkata is one of the largest cities in India covering an area of 187 square km and housing a population of more than 4.6 million. Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) provides a range of services to the city including the supply of drinking water, sewerage and drainage, solid waste management, roads maintenance, street lighting and slum development works.

Calcutta/Kolkata stands on the Eastern Bank of River Ganga. The tail end of river Ganga flows by the side of Kolkata before it reaches Bay of Bengal about 180 Km. down stream from Kolkata. The Vital Statistics of a capital city, called by the British Raj as The Jewel of the East, and remained its capital till 1911, Kolkata is now the capital of West Bengal a state of India.

Climate: Maximum temperature rises during the summer months of May-June up to 24 - 42º C and the minimum temperature falls during winter months of December - January up to 8 - 26ºC on an average. Climate is humid varying from 85 - 65 during the summer & exceeding by pleasant in winter. From June to September average rainfall in Kolkata is 158 cm.

Modern Kolkata was founded in 1690 by British trader Job Charnock as a trading post of the English East India Company. In the mid -17th century the Portuguese had a trading outpost in the area at Sutanuti, followed by the Dutch, who constructed a diversion canal at the bank of the Hugli River, near the present Central Business District.

The old Fort William was built to protect the English post in 1696. The city became famous in 1756, in England particularly, when Siraj-ud-Dawlah, a Bengal ruler, captured the fort and, according to British historians, stifled to death 43 British residents in a small guardroom called the Black Hole of Kolkata. The city was recaptured by the British under Robert Clive in 1757. The English initially built an intricate transport network through the Hugli - Ganges water system, but it was the railroads, introduced in the 1850s, that successfully established connections with the hinterland and the rest of India. The city eventually had the largest concentration of trading establishments in India, and a Western-style business district evolved by the end of the 19th century.

The colonial city maintained a strict division between the crowded and ill-planned native quarters to the east and north of the Central Business District, and the spacious and well-planned quarters where the Europeans lived in the south and southeastern parts of the old city. After independence, the former European quarters were either turned into residences of the Indian rich or, as in the Park Street area, into commercial areas.